Online Emotional Intelligence Coursesby Mark ZimmermanThis course is an introduction and
explanation of a new form of education. It has many names including emotional
intelligence, emotional literacy and intrinsic education. To find out more
click the above link.

Emotional Literacy
Education and Self-Knowledge
How to Make the World a Better Place Chapter 1by Mark Zimmerman

Thank you for visiting my
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useful. Please visit often. We plan continuous updates and improvements to better suit
your needs.

I want to speak to you today about issues that I have been working on for
nearly a quarter of a century. The issues are self-knowledge
and its sister EmotionalLiteracyEducation. They are
important, because they address mankind's most fundamental problems of violence, crime,
abuse, addiction, prejudice, racism and dysfunctional families. They also address failures
in the educational, economic and political systems to do the right thing. My biggest
concern is the failure of government to promote the individual's right for the pursuit of happiness
as outlined by President Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence.
Why? because I believe the achievement of happiness
by the individual will eradicate these problems.

Mankind is caught in the cycle
of fear,
apathy
and hatred.
These human instincts drive hierarchical political systems and bureaucracies that most
often limit
the basic human right of the pursuit of happiness.
A society whose foundation is fear,
apathy
and hatred
sets up a system which fundamentally affects the happiness
of the individual. It represses individual development and maintains a cyclicalbehavioral
pattern of superiority and inferiority and a class society founded on untrue ideals.

Outlined in the second paragraph of The
Declaration of Independence of The United States of America, President Thomas
Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths
to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness...."

The truth
we all know
is that all men and women should be treated equally under the law, and given the same
opportunities whether we are rich, middle-class or poor. This, after all, is the dream
for which all people hope for, and from which the strength of the nation is derived. It is
the development of the individual and our human differences, that are so vital to the
health, well-being and security of the nation.

Unfortunately, the laws do not protect us from prejudice and the institutionalization
of the capitalistic system - which discriminates
by way of class value. Institutionalized segregation based upon economics, not laws, has
become the subversion of the pursuit of happiness.
The United States has a system of education
which is not equal. Funds are allocated in insidious ways, so that those in power channel
money and resources to people who are more like them. These kinds of behaviors
are moral issues and cannot be legislated. The laws exist
to protect individual rights, but when people don't feel
like helping,
and channel resources for their own pleasures,
and disregard the needs of others, an unequal system of government and capital
distribution is created.

Poor whites, blacks, Hispanics and other minorities are trapped in inner-city schools.
Society has left these schools to rot, while brand new schools in predominantly white
affluent suburbs give students more resources. Government does provide an equal amount of
funding per child, but the schools themselves
are equipped in an unequal way. New schools have more computers and better classrooms and
resources. The best teachers make their way through the hiring system to the better
schools. Classroom adoption by corporations and parents provide additional funding that
poor schools receive by lesser degree. Fund-raising by the PTO is more successful in the
predominantly white suburbs, because those parents have more money to give. If government
adequately funded schools, fund-raising and classroom adoption would not be an issue.
Schools rely heavily on fund-raising to meet their most basic needs. Schools that lack
community resources are left with their basic needs not being
met.

Today we confront many of the same economic, political and moral issues that inspired
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to say during his famous First
Inaugural Speech, "This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth,
the whole truth,
frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions
in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and
will prosper.

"So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear.
. .is fear
itself. . .nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to
convert retreat into advance.

"In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has
met with that understanding
and support of the people themselves
which is essential to victory. I
am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical
days.

"The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values
more noble
than mere monetary profit.

"Happiness
lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy
of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.

"The joy
and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent
profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true
destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves
and to our fellow-men."

Today, it is imperative that we address these same issues. Power must be given to
individuals for the purpose of governing and coordinating groups for beneficial purposes.
The problems begin when government officials and business leaders unconsciously contribute
to the problem rather than address solutions. Change in government or institutionalizing
new laws will not make a better America. There is a limit
to what laws can do for a people. For the laws cannot protect us against those in power
who must interpret and enforce them.

We know
that the solution to prejudice and racism includes education
and laws. To that end education
is the only hope for America to fulfill its promise of equal opportunity for all. Crime is
a moral failure of the society as well as the individual. Criminals are not born they are
made. Addiction comes from a hunger for happiness,
and it is not a crime but rather a health issue. Poverty is caused by a miss allocation of
resources by people who feel
deserving of the wealth of the nation, and disregard the health and well-being of others.

1. Reduction in crime
2. Reduction in domestic violence and dysfunctional families
3. Better understanding
and cooperation between individuals and groups which lead to greater economic development.
4. Increased intelligence and interest in learning through our current educational system.
5. Reduction in drug abuse and addiction
6. Increase in happiness
and self-esteem
7. Happier
relationships between husband, wife and children
8. Reduction in government (Bill
Moyers Report) and corporate (Bill
Moyers Report) abuse of the people and the environment.
9. Reduction in prejudice and racism
10. A political and corporate system which encourages individuals to do the right thing.